Page 15 of For Rage

She took one last look at the house, trying to piece together everything that had happened there. It was a house full of secrets, of lies, and of pain. She couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to the story than what she had uncovered so far. She needed to find out what had really happened to all those women, and why Jim had felt he needed to kill them. She had a feeling that the answers were hiding somewhere in that house, waiting to be uncovered.

Morgan turned to Derik, who was watching her with a concerned look on his face. "What's our next move?" he asked.

Morgan shook her head, feeling lost and unsure. "I don't know," she admitted. "We need to keep investigating, find out what Jim's motive was for killing." She couldn't help but feel a lick of bitterness. "I just don't get it. That man had everything. Why'd he throw it all away?"

In another life, Morgan would have killed for a lovely little girl like Milly, for a house like this. Of course, she didn't say that to Derik. He never knew that she'd dreamed of starting a family one day.

But that dream had died long ago, buried beneath the weight of her job, the trauma she had faced, and the scars that marked her past. Still, something about this case had struck a chord with her, had made her feel like she was fighting for something more than just justice. She wondered if the little girl would ever be able to understand the horrors that had happened in her own home, the crimes that her father had committed. She wondered if she would ever be able to move past it, to heal and grow up without the weight of that knowledge dragging her down. She wondered if justice would ever truly be served for Grace and the other women who had lost their lives because of Jim's actions.

There were no easy answers, no quick fixes.And for Morgan, there would be no fairy tale endings either. She'd lost her father while she was wrongfully in prison. She'd missed out on most of her dog's life. And now, she was forty years old, and if she did decide to have a child, it might be harder on her than it would've been before. Going to prison had stolen so much from her, and the weight of that hit her in full force, like a tidal wave swallowing her whole.

Derik looked at her, concern etched on his face. "Are you okay?" he asked.

She wasn’t okay, but she had to keep it in check. “Let’s just go question this guy.”

***

Morgan sat across from Jim Alba in the interrogation room, letting Derik take the lead, because Jim had turned into a closed book. Morgan was too angry, too rattled, to ask questions with an even head. She had found herself feeling extremely frustrated toward Jim, this man who had everything, who may have just thrown it all away, and for what?

His daughter would suffer because of it too.

The man was completely selfish.

“Mr. Alba, please,” Derik said, playing up the nice cop act, “the sooner you talk to us, the sooner we can work on getting you out of here.”

Jim glanced at Morgan. “Bullshit. You aren’t letting me go. I can tell by the way that one’s looking at me.”

Morgan couldn’t help but laugh. Derik sighed, meeting Jim’s eyes. “I need you to tell me about your relationship with your wife. You were clearly having an affair.”

Jim's face twisted into a scowl as he leaned back in his chair. "She wasn't just my mistress, if that's what you're asking," he spat. "She was the love of my life. Grace was nothing but a burden."

Morgan's blood boiled at the mention of Grace. She knew that Jim was lying, that he was just trying to deflect from the truth. She leaned forward, her voice cold and steady. "You killed Grace, didn't you?"

Jim's eyes widened in surprise, but he quickly composed himself. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Morgan leaned in even closer, her voice lowering to a dangerous growl. "Lying won't help you here. We have you, Jim. We know."

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Jim said, "and you’re wasting time on the wrong guy. I didn't kill my wife."

Morgan leaned back in her chair, studying Jim. She wasn't buying it. There was something in his eyes, a flicker of fear, that made her believe he had something to do with Grace's death.

"Then who did?" Derik asked, his voice firm. "Because we have evidence that points to you."

Jim scoffed, shaking his head. "I don't know." Jim shifted in his seat, avoiding Morgan's gaze. "Look, I loved Grace. But she was ... difficult. She didn't understand me the way that Maria did. And when she found out about us ..." he trailed off, his voice barely above a whisper.

"When she found out about your affair, she threatened to leave you," Morgan finished for him. "Is that when you decided to kill her?"

Jim's eyes flicked up to hers, then back down to the table. "I didn't kill her," he repeated. "I swear, I didn't. And I don't want to talk to you anymore without a lawyer present."

Morgan tensed up, and Derik let out a sigh. That wasn't good. If they had to wait on Jim's lawyer, it could delay their interrogation way longer than Morgan had hoped.

"Are you sure about that?" Morgan asked.

"I'm pretty damn sure," Jim shot back.

Derik stood up, nodding. "Okay, Jim. Until your lawyer can arrive, you're going to be staying here, with us. We'll have someone come in and process you."

Morgan left the room with Derik, feeling a sense of disappointment wash over her. She had been so close to getting a confession out of him, but he had remained stubborn, denying any involvement in Grace's death. It was frustrating, to say the least, but Morgan wasn't one to give up easily. She knew that there had to be more to the story, more evidence to uncover, in order to truly bring Jim to justice.

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